


Survivor

by axton_writes



Series: 9-1-1 Drabbles [7]
Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Coda, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Episode: s03e15 Eddie Begins, Freeform, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Mild Smut, They get together, eddie begins, no beta we die like men
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-22
Updated: 2020-04-22
Packaged: 2021-03-01 20:55:10
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,361
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23783491
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/axton_writes/pseuds/axton_writes
Summary: Free-form coda 3x15 'Eddie Begins'Eddie survives thirty feet of Earth crumbling over his head, nearly drowning in a drainage pipe, and bringing himself up to surface. This is what happens after.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz
Series: 9-1-1 Drabbles [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1689991
Comments: 4
Kudos: 197





	Survivor

**Author's Note:**

> How many times did I cry during the episode, after the episode, and while writing this? Read on and find out.

_ “Eddie!” _

He jumps awake from where he’s positioned, on the stretcher in the ambulance, having nearly all of his clothes stripped off, wrapped in the thin space blanket, warm water bottles laid over his chest, neck, and legs.  Hen looks up from where she’s taking his blood pressure, placing a hand on his unwrapped shoulder to gently push him back onto the stretcher, going back to focusing on taking his blood pressure. He closed his eyes, only to feel something warm sneak into his hand and slot itself between his fingers. 

He opens his eyes to find Buck holding his hand, the same one he held when he supported Eddie into the ambulance in the first place, the same one that helped strip him of his soaked clothes, and the same one that hugged him tight as Hen and Chim began to warm up the water bottles for him. 

Mild hypothermia and oxygen deprivation be damned, something in the way Buck was now treating him and hovering over him had his heart fluttering, and when he looked up to Buck, the same hallowed expression sat on his face as he glanced between Hen taking his blood pressure and Chim getting more water bottles and hand warmers. When he looked down to Eddie, though, all signs of fear melted away into the gentlest expression he had never seen Buck wear, and it was enough to put him at ease for a while.

Even when they arrive at the hospital, and Eddie is taken into a room by a couple of lovely nurses, Buck’s expression doesn’t change unless he catches Eddie looking at him, and when one nurse tells Buck in good faith to return to the waiting room, his eyes glaze over and he shakes his head ‘no’, and the expression of a man who’s seen death returns to him. Only reassurance from Eddie, 

“Buck, I’ll be okay. I promise,”

is enough to let him go with Bobby back to the waiting room, while Eddie is continued to be warmed up by warm fluids and a lot of blankets. 

Once he is released after given a clean bill of health and a few days off from work, Eddie finds that the team remains to see him off, and everyone but Buck filters out of the hospital. 

“What’s going on? I thought we have to pick up Chris?”

Buck shakes his head. 

“Actually, Abuela already picked him up. I know you’re going to want to see him, but the doctor said you need rest. Abuela cooked dinner and is waiting for us, so we are going to eat, and then we are going home.”

Us. We. Home.

Eddie cocked his head at Buck for a moment, but Buck just put his hand up. 

“We can talk about it later. Right now, I know you’re hungry.”

And with that, they leave the hospital in Buck’s jeep, heading to Abuela’s house.

=+=

Abuela is more than happy to see Eddie, even if he does smell like dirt and stagnate water, and his fingernails are dirty. She gives them both warm hugs and many, many kisses before she turns towards the dining room, where Christopher is already sat with his plate made up, and he smiles up at Eddie, who scoops his son up into his arms and holds him tight. 

“Dad, what’s wrong?”

Eddie sniffs for a moment, being overwhelmed by the events of the day, his mind racing through a million ways that night could have gone wrong, a million ways he could have died and left Christopher parentless, and he can’t help but let a few tears fall from his eyes. 

“Nothing, buddy. I missed you.”

Christopher smiles and pats his father on the back. 

“I missed you too. Abuela made dinner.”

When Eddie turns to drop his son back into his seat, Abuela and Buck are already sat down at the table, hand in hand, waiting for Eddie and Christopher to join them in a prayer before dinner. 

=+=

His house is dark and eerily quiet when he unlocks the door, Buck following right behind him with both of their overnight bags from work. He kicks the door closed behind him, dropping both bags by the door and kicking his boots off, setting them on the rack that Bobby had gotten Eddie, meant as a parent-to-parent gift on Christopher’s eighth birthday, to keep track of all his shoes. Eddie ended up using it as a rack for dirty work boots, after him and Buck both tracked sooty boot prints all over the carpet in the living room. 

Buck looked down at the now light gray and quickly fading spots, smiling at the memory of teaching Christopher how to get the stains out of the carpet, which ended with Buck covered in baking soda and a bigger mess than what had begun.

Eddie made a beeline to the cupboard, pulling out a bottle of bourbon, and pouring himself and Buck a small glass. Buck walked over to the kitchen and stood next to Eddie, who downed his glass and poured himself another. 

That hallowed expression popped up on Buck’s face as he gently placed his hand on Eddie’s arm to stop him from taking his third drink. 

Eddie put the glass down and turned to face Buck, who didn’t drop his look this time, but wore it for Eddie to see. 

He couldn’t tell what Buck was thinking, or how he was feeling, but as Buck continued to look up into his face, he could see every emotion Buck had felt while Eddie was underneath them: panic, fear, desperation, anger, resentment, and the one that made Eddie understand Buck more than anything else: the guilt that seemed to overpower any other emotion Buck was feeling right then and there. Eddie could feel it buzzing in the air around Buck, in the way Buck was touching him, and the way Buck felt he needed to hold him. The guilt that he didn’t do enough to try to save Eddie, the guilt that maybe it was his fault Eddie got stuck in the first place, and the guilt that he had decided to put Eddie and Eddie’s own  well-being before himself.

Eddie tried to remain as neutral as possible, but with the way Buck was holding his hand onto his arm, to prevent him from doing any further damage, had him facing Buck with his own guilt now looming in the air. 

Buck moved his hand and grabbed Eddie’s glass in one swoop, pouring it into his own and downing it. He took the bottle and capped it back off, tucking it back into the cupboard on the highest shelf he could reach. He took both his and Eddie’s glasses and dropped them into the sink, sighing lightly. 

“You should go to bed, get some sleep.”

He turned to Eddie, as matter-of-factly as possible, and Eddie looked to the ground, shuffling his feet. 

“I don’t think I’m going to be sleeping much tonight, Buck.”

Buck took a tentative step forward, and he reached out and took Eddie’s hand into his own, like he did in the ambulance, and he just nodded, looking at their hands. 

“Same here.”

Eddie swallowed thickly, looking down to their hands, and he gave Buck a little squeeze. 

“Listen, Buck, we should talk about this.” Eddie looked back up, finding that expression plastered onto Buck’s face again, and he shook his head. “I don’t mean like that, Buck. I swear. The last thing I want to do is hurt the person I love.” He may have not wanted it to come out like that, but once the words were out of his mouth, he knew he’d said the right thing. 

Buck snapped his head up to look at Eddie, his mouth opening, closing, opening again, and this time he cocked his head in confusion. 

“Wait, you said you-”

“I love you, Evan Buckley.” It came out more exasperated than it should have, but Buck should have caught on to what he was trying to say by now. “I have always loved you, Evan. Ever since the day you said you had my back, I have been in love with you. I only knew it was right when Christopher said he wanted you around. I never got the chance to tell you, because we were always together, I didn’t think I needed to. Tonight, though, I honestly didn’t think I’d make it back to you, and all of the choices I’ve made, all the things I didn’t get to say to you, they would’ve been my greatest regrets. So, I think this is the right time and place to say that I love you, Buck. Because tomorrow isn’t promised, and I couldn’t think of any other person I would rather have raise my son.”

To say that Buck floundered like a fish out of water would be an understatement. Buck was never good with words, but if you could see his eyes, you could see everything he’d ever say or felt. 

Buck looked for words to say, he looked for something smart to retort back with, he begged for something cheesy he could try to use on Eddie, but the only thing that came out of his mouth was,

“Can I kiss you?”

Eddie let go of Buck’s hand, just so he could place his hands on either side of his face and nod. 

Eddie held Buck, but Buck didn’t know how to initiate, and he decided to rest a hand to Eddie’s hip for a moment, another to the back of Eddie’s neck, and he pulled him down, his lips tentatively touching Eddie’s. 

It was nothing more than a ghost of a kiss, light lips touching each other like they were made of glass, and Buck could taste Eddie’s breath on his tongue, chasing after him like it was his own air he breathed. 

Eddie pushed forward one more time, kissing Buck with a little more pressure, this time finding purchase with his thumbs rubbing right over Buck’s cheekbones. A little slip from Eddie sent a leg between Buck’s, and Buck flipped them around, now pressing Eddie against the counter with a little more pressure, making sure Eddie was comfortable where he was. 

They pulled away, now trying to catch their breath, and Buck just smiled down at Eddie, reaching with his hand to rub his thumb right across Eddie’s lower lip, and he let out a sigh.

“I love you, too.”

Ignoring every aching bone in his body, Eddie pushed himself up from the counter, wrapped his arms around Buck’s shoulders, and pulled Buck into a firm hug, making him melt into Eddie. Buck gave no  hesitation to wrap his arms around Eddie, being careful of his bruises, and he buried his face into Eddie’s neck, taking in a deep breath. 

Even though he could smell the dirt and whatever was in the water he swam in cling to his skin, he could still catch the  slightest hint of Eddie’s favorite aftershave and something that could only be truly described as pure, unfiltered Eddie, he pressed his nose into his neck just a little more, closing his eyes, and imagining coming home every day to just this. 

Eddie was the first to pull back, and he bit his lip at Buck’s expression of adoration and confusion. Eddie rubbed a hand to the back of his neck. 

“I need a shower.”

Buck nodded and turned back to the living room, going over to pick up Eddie’s overnight bag. 

“Take as much time as you need, Eds. I’m not going anywhere.”

He takes the bag to Eddie’s bedroom and drops it on the bed, unzipping it and pulling out clothes. Eddie’s taken aback at how domestic Buck looks, going through his clothes, seeing what’s clean and comfortable enough for Eddie to wear when he gets out, putting away the rest and throwing the clothes that need to be washed into a hamper tucked into the corner, and he even takes out Eddie’s uniform with care, hanging it up to be taken to the dry cleaners in the morning. When Buck turns around, Eddie’s face to face with him, a hand ghosting over Buck’s cheek, and Buck looks at him quizzically, but Eddie just pulls him in for another kiss. When they part, Eddie doesn’t let go of Buck. 

“Stay.”

“I wasn’t planning on leaving.”

=+=

Warm water rushes over his back and flows down the drain a muddy brown, the dirt and grime for the day coming off of him, and he leans forward with an arm holding him up from the shower wall, the cold tile a harsh contrast from the blanket of warmth now running down his back. 

His mind flashes between the image of dirt and metal raining down on him from the opening he was lowered from, and the cold water in which he nearly drowned in, swimming against the weight of his gear and towards the darkness that had overtaken the sky. 

He could feel a few hot tears run down his cheeks, but it gets washed away when he lifts his head to rinse as much dirt from his hair as possible. 

He tugs on his hair when he runs his fingers through, and a flash of the line dragging him back makes his slam his fist against the wall, letting out a groan of frustration. 

He turns the heat up a little more, hot water now burning his skin as he goes back under the  spray and begins to scrub his bruised and sore body, trying to drown out the images that pop in with every intrusive thought, and he curls into himself, sliding down the wall until his knees are to his chest and he’s sobbing, the sound of the shower covering most of the noise. 

He stays until the water begins to run lukewarm, and he stands on shaky legs, turning the tap off and wrapping a towel around his waist

=+=

Buck is  lying in bed, propped up by the headboard when Eddie finally comes out of the bathroom, dressed in the clothes he had left out for him, and he pats the space beside him, giving Eddie a warm smile. 

Eddie’s eyes are haunted, and they dart between the bed and Buck, frown lines growing deeper as he began to overthink, and Buck just stands up and walks over to him, pulling him into another hug. 

“Eds, hey, I’m right here.”

Eddie stands awkwardly, unsure if he’s to hug Buck back or wait for it to be over, but Buck just presses his nose against Eddie’s neck again, and Eddie finds he’s starting to like a snuggly Buck, so he wraps his arms around the taller man and lets out a sigh of relief, closing his eyes and holding onto him like he’s Eddie’s lifeline. 

Buck pulls back first, placing hands on Eddie’s arms, and he stares him down, searching for something in Eddie’s eyes. 

Eddie breaks off eye contact, looking at the bed and he lets a small smile slip past his lips. 

“Can we lay down?”

Buck looks over to the bed and nods. 

“Anything you want, Eddie.”

Eddie’s shoulders finally drop, releasing the tension in his back, and he doesn’t get under the covers yet, just going over to lay down on the bed and plug his phone into the charger, a picture of Christopher popping up on his screen. Buck lays down next to Eddie and plugs his phone in on the other side, a picture of him and Christopher lighting up his screen. 

They lay in bed, not speaking, for an hour before Eddie finally decides to make a move, and he turns onto his side to face Buck, who is staring at the ceiling with that look on his face. 

“Buck?”

Buck let out a breath before looking over to Eddie, the look disappearing from his face. 

“Yeah?”

“You want to tell me what you’re thinking about that’s got you looking like you saw a ghost.”

Buck swallows around a lump slowly growing in his throat, and he takes one of Eddie’s hands into his own, pressing a kiss to the back of his hand before looking back up to the ceiling.

“I’m thinking about how I watched the person I love get nearly crushed by thirty feet of dirt, metal, and water. The rain just wouldn’t stop pouring, and I pushed Bobby out of the way to keep him safe, but I couldn’t get to you. I watched you die in front of my eyes, and I couldn’t help you. It was like when I lost Christopher.”

Eddie squeezes Buck’s hand, and he shakes his head. 

“You did not lose Christopher. He’s alive and well with his Abuela because you did everything you could to keep him save. You did everything you could to help Hayden get out of that hole, and  yeah, I was stupid to cut my line, but if I came back up, he would have drowned. You did what you could with what you had, and so did I.”

Buck glances to Eddie, his eyes flashing an emotion he hadn’t seen before. 

“What if  _ you _ had drowned, Eddie? Christopher needs you.”

Eddie bit his lip and looks at the ceiling with Buck, and he looks to Buck, putting his hand in his lap. 

“He’d have you, Buck.”

Buck stops breathing for a moment, and Eddie sits up after a moment to check on Buck. He’s gone white, his mouth still  open a little, and when he takes in a deep breath, he lets out a sob, making Eddie jump and sit Buck up, pulling him into his chest. 

“Hey, hey, Evan, talk to me.”

Buck holds onto Eddie’s arms, letting sob after heartbreaking sob leave his mouth, and Eddie could only hold him and hang on for dear life, humming a Spanish lullaby his Abuela used to sing to him. 

Buck takes a few shaky breaths, looking to Eddie with red rimmed, teary eyes. 

“I can’t raise him like you, Eddie. I’m no hero.”

Eddie shakes his head.

“You’re more than a hero, Evan. You’re his Buck.” Buck lets out another cry, and Eddie just holds him. “If anything happens to him, you’re the one I want to take care of him. There is no one in this world that I trust more with my son than you.”

Eddie pulls Buck’s face up from where it’s nestled into his chest and presses a hard kiss to his lips, salty tears mixing with the taste of him, and Buck was pushing Eddie back onto the bed, laying on top of him, kissing him like he was going to leave again. 

Eddie rolled them over, now leading Buck as he pulled back to soften the kiss, taking a liberty to lick his bottom lip for entrance and gliding his tongue in when he had a chance, taking advantage of the new position to get a feel for Buck. 

He pushes his knees into the bed, using the leverage to slide under Buck’s thighs and get his legs lifted and settled on his hips, and he leans down to move from his lips to his neck, taking his time to explore Buck. 

Every bone in his body ached with the effort, and the muscles in his arms were already beginning to burn with the effort of holding himself up, but he continued down from his neck to his collar bone, where his low cut shirt revealed just enough for Eddie to bite down on, making Buck whimper. 

“Eddie.”

Eddie lifted his head, looking down at Buck, and he smiled, leaning back on his legs and running his hands up Buck’s thighs, reaching until he could just hook his fingers under his waistband, and Buck gives him a gentle smile and a nod, and Eddie pulls the fabric down, scooting himself further off the bed until he could toss his sweatpants to the ground. He looked up, seeing Buck’s expression go from content to anxious, and he looked to where Buck was staring, and he saw the endless scars that ran up his left leg. Most were pinhole scars from where a frame had held his leg together, but two deep scars ran up either side of his knee, one running up to his thigh, and he looked up at Eddie. 

“Listen, we don’t have to if you’re uncomfortable with it, Buck. You have to let me know.”

Buck swallows before looking up at Eddie. 

“I’m okay, but you haven’t seen this before, Eds,” to which Eddie leans down at the first scar he sees and presses a butterfly kiss right over it, moving down to press another kiss, and another, and another, until Buck is smiling widely and he sit up, going down to grab Eddie’s face and pull him into another kiss. 

Eddie pushes Buck back down, and he strips off his own sweatpants before hooking his knees under Buck’s thighs again, and he looks down between them, trying to find an angle that would work on both of them, and he rolls his hips against Buck’s, his eyes a gorgeous shade of ocean blue as he lets out a little gasp. 

“Eddie.”

He rolls his hips again, making sure to take it deliberately slow, his arms shaking with effort as he holds himself over Buck. He picks up a good pace, soon growing hard and beginning to leak into his boxers when Buck slips his hand between them to stop Eddie from continuing, his breath coming and going a little harder. 

“I’m  going to come if you keep doing that, baby.”

Eddie’s taken back by the pet name, but he nods and gets up from the bed, looking down before pulling off his boxers. He reaches up to take Buck’s off, and he gets right back to where he was, Buck underneath him, his forehead beading with sweat, eyes blown with lust, and Eddie can’t help but stare down at him, licking his lips and catching Buck’s into another kiss. 

Two  years' worth of sexual tension and mutual pining, coming down to Eddie almost dying and Buck pulling him from his head. It was a long time coming, and Eddie thinks it not to be a better occasion than sore out of his mind from nearly dying, head unable to wrap around his own trauma, and admitting he loves Buck to take him right here, right now, in no better place but his own bed, while his son- no,  _ their _ son is away at Abuela’s for the next two nights. 

Buck pulls back and looks down between them, reaching to take off his sweatshirt as more sweat begins to catch on his brow. Now adorned in just his 118  undershirt , Eddie takes a moment to run his fingers over the last name ‘Buckley’ adorned under the firefighter emblem, and he glances to the nightstand. 

“Lube in the top.”

“Condoms?”

Eddie dipped his head and smiled, shaking his head.

“Do we need them?”

Buck raised an eyebrow at Eddie. 

“Eddie...”

“Haven’t bought any since Shannon-”

“Okay, just for tonight. I might complain later.”

Eddie rests his head on Buck’s chest and lays on him for a moment, giving his arms a rest while Buck rummages for the little bottle of lube, and he taps Eddie on the shoulder when he finds it. Eddie continues to lay on Buck’s chest, ear right over his heartbeat, and Buck sets the bottle on the bed, going to wrap his arms around Eddie. 

“Hey, you okay?”

Eddie nods. 

“Yeah, just need a moment.”

Buck doesn’t say anything but just holds Eddie until he goes to sit back again. He picks up the little bottle, coating his fingers in just enough to get them slippery, and he drops a little right over Buck’s entrance, making him shiver. 

“Fuck, Eds, warn a man next time.”

Eddie shakes his head and gives him a fond smile, leaning forward to catch Buck in a surprise kiss, slipping one finger inside him. 

Buck gives way easily, letting out a little noise into Eddie’s mouth as he pulls his finger out and gently pushes it back in, soon curling his finger against Buck, who pulls away from the kiss to let out a little gasp. 

“Eddie!”

Eddie paused what he was doing, and looked down to see Buck’s face scrunched in pleasure, and he looked down to insert a second finger into Buck, curling it with the first and moving again, looking up to watch Buck’s face, making sure to hit the same spot, and Buck let out another breath, smiling to himself as he made Buck gasp again. He continued to rock his fingers in and out of Buck, soon adding in a third, and Buck let out a whine. 

“You really just want to tease me, don’t you?”

Eddie shook his head, pulling his fingers out and pulling his hoodie off, now matching Buck with his undershirt, and Buck reaches up to run his thumb over the name ‘Diaz’, smiling to himself for a moment. 

Eddie picked up the little bottle of lube, rubbing a generous amount over himself, and he looks up to Buck, searching for signs of  hesitation , but Buck just nods again, and Eddie lines himself up, gently pushing inside Buck, who lets out a breath and a low moan, turning his head to press his face into a pillow. 

Eddie bottoms out, looking up to see Buck’s face twisted with pain, and he leans down, passing his fingers through Buck’s hair. 

“Hey, babe, look at me.” Buck looks up at Eddie, who rests his hand on his cheek now, caressing his cheekbone with his thumb. “If it hurts, we can stop. We don’t have to do this.”

Buck shakes his head for a moment. 

“Just need some time, been a while since I’ve done this.”

Eddie stills his motions, and Buck searches Eddie’s face for clues on why, but finds nothing and looks away.

“You’ve done this before?” Buck nods, not meeting Eddie’s eyes, but Eddie tilts his chin up with a gentle hand. “Don’t need to be ashamed. I didn’t know.”

Buck rocks his hips experimentally and leans back against the pillows, nodding to Eddie. 

“I think I'm okay.”

Eddie still takes his time, pulling back slowly and pushing back in even slower, letting out a breath. 

“You feel so good, Evan.”

Eddie finds himself picking up the pace the more he teases himself, and soon he’s set a good pace that has them both gasping and moaning, Buck clawing at the sheets when he hits that sweet spot every couple of thrusts, and Eddie’s no longer leaning on his arms, resting on the backs of his legs and holding Buck’s thighs up with his hands, loving the feel of strong muscle under his warm skin, and he knows Buck’s been working out lately with how rock solid he feels under his touch, and with just a peak of his stomach from his shirt slowly rucking up. 

Buck can’t form a single coherent thought, his eyes trained on Eddie’s hands holding his legs up like he weighs nothing, his tongue  peeking out from between his lips with the amount of concentration he had to make Buck feel good, and sweat dripping off his brow and running down the side of his face. Eddie had set a pace good for the both of them, and Buck was just a few more pushes from becoming undone beneath him, so he reaches down to take himself into his hand, giving himself a few tugs. 

Eddie looks up a little, seeing Buck’s hand now on his throbbing cock, and he pushes his hand away, replacing it with his own, giving him a few experimental tugs before finding a pace against the pace of his thrusts, Buck throws his head back and cries out Eddie’s name as he comes, white, hot ropes over Eddie’s hand and onto his undershirt. 

Eddie slows his hand, squeezing out the last few drops from Buck, and he looks down to where he’s at, knowing Buck is growing more sensitive by the moment. With tight heat squeezing around him, and the way Buck looks out fucked out underneath him, it takes Eddie two more times before he’s coming inside Buck, shouting Buck’s name and collapsing onto his chest, head landing right over Buck’s heart.

They both lay there, trying to catch their breaths, Buck’s heart beating rapidly and Eddie feeling a new exhaustion settling deep in his bones, but before he can slip under, Buck pats his arm and hums. 

“Eds, hey, I know you’re tired, but I need you to pull out.”

Eddie sits up from where he’s at, and he can already feel him growing sore. He gently guides himself out, and he flops back onto the bed, his eyes fluttering shut. 

The last thing he hears before he goes to sleep is Buck whispering something he can’t quite make out.

=+=

Even with the curtains pulled closed, the morning light streams into the room, casting a golden light over everything, and Eddie wakes up believing he’d died and gone to heaven by the way everything looks. 

Buck is still fast asleep, now just clad in his boxers with a purple mark on his collarbone, and Eddie believes himself to be in heaven if he could wake up next to the man he loves. 

Buck shifts and his eyes flutter open, and he smiles at Eddie. 

“Good morning, lovely.”

Eddie blushes and looks down, and when he looks back up, Buck is still looking at him with a smitten look over his face. Eddie takes his chance to gently pull Buck by his chin into a little morning kiss, and if Eddie could feel this, then he is  definitely dead and in heaven, but when he goes to sit up, his shoulder aches and he feels himself growing a little lightheaded. He lays back down, deciding to just cuddle closer to Buck and close his eyes. He’s not in heaven, not with the pain he just experienced, but he doesn’t care. This is pretty damn close. He cracks his eyes open for a moment. 

“What’d you say before I passed out last night?”

Buck blushes a little before looking down at Eddie. 

“I said you were a hero.” Eddie opens his mouth to say he’s not, but he stops himself and just smiles at Buck, who continues, “and I would love to help you raise Christopher, if you let me.”

Eddie grabs Buck’s face and pulls him down for a proper kiss, and when they pull away, he rests his forehead against  Buck’s, nudging his nose against Buck’s. 

“I fucking love you, Evan.”

“I love you too, Eddie.”

=+=

When Christopher goes to do his show and tell presentation with his dad by his side late that morning, his Bucky (or his daddy, it switches often) sits at the back of the classroom with the same fond expression as they look at their son. 

“So that’s your good luck charm?” the teacher asks Eddie, pointing at the St. Christopher necklace held in his hands.

“No. He is.” Eddie looks down to Christopher and messes with his hair, and when he glances to Buck, he’s got silent tears coming down his face, and Christopher gets to leave school early to get ice cream with Buck and Eddie, both of the men promising to take him to the beach if the weather holds by late afternoon. 

Sat on the warm sand, Christopher a little bit ahead of them, Eddie turns to Buck, the last rays of the day’s sunshine making Buck’s blue eyes bolder than the ocean in front of them. Buck turns and smiles at Eddie. 

“Can I help you?”

“I love you, Evan Buckley.”

“I love you too, Edmundo Diaz.”

This time, when they kiss, they get a cheer and a little boy dropped in their lap, Christopher giggling up at Buck, who takes the opportunity to tickle him. 

This is where Eddie wants to be. 

This is home. 

**Author's Note:**

> rough estimation: 300???
> 
> actual number: 36


End file.
